Monday, January 11

Is the new Domino's deal worth it?

Okay, okay: In an ideal world, we'd eat only at home. In this world, we'd all enjoy cooking and do lots of fabulous dishes that dazzled our taste buds.

But this is the real world. I was run down; Tim was in pain. And we were both starving. So I succumbed to those stupid ads from Domino's that have been playing recently. Personally, I just don't think it's ever a good idea to admit that people said your sauce tastes like ketchup.

Still, you have to admit that the deal was good: Two medium, two-topping pizzas for $5.99 each. If you don't like it, you get your money back. And, I'll admit it, the claims of new recipes had me curious.

So I ordered mine with chicken and roasted red peppers. Tim got Italian sausage and roasted red peppers. The total, after tax, tip and delivery charge ($1.75 on orders under $24) was about $16.

The crust is still too flat for my tastes -- though Tim prefers it thinner. I definitely like the garlic they've brushed on the crust, though I'm sure it adds more calories than I want to consider. Despite the commercials' raves about the cheese, I personally didn't taste much difference between it and a frozen pizza.

But I will give credit for the toppings. The chicken came in good-sized chunks and didn't thave that slightly-off taste that frozen ingredients sometimes get. The roasted red peppers didn't add as much tang as I was hoping for, but they were tasty. (Tim thought they added plenty of tang, in case anyone cares for a second opinion.)

So, the verdict? It was good enough that I didn't ask for my money back. And I'll certainly eat the leftovers. But it still tastes like cheap delivery pizza -- just cheap delivery pizza a notch or two up from what it used to be. (I couldn't really taste the sauce, so I can't say whether the ketchup comment is still applicable.)

Much as I hate the cost of places like Papa John's, their stuff is higher quality than Pizza Hut or Domino's. The difference in cost comes from getting something that is actually tasty, rather than "not bad." It's the difference between choosing a sit-down burger joint over a McDonald's.

It's a personal choice, and both options have their pros and cons. You just have to decide whether you want to spend a little or a lot, because either way you're going to get your money's worth.

I think the main issue here is that most delivery food promotions are deceptively priced. They don't take into account the other fees, such as tax, delivery charge and tip. It's not that the company is being deceptive, so much as our brains' tendency to cling on to low numbers -- even in the face of very different realities.

Either way, Tim and I ordered a deal that promised pizzas for $5.99; we paid $8. Doesn't sound like quite as good a deal, does it?

So that's my two cents about Domino's deal. Hopefully, I save at least a couple people the trouble of trying it out for themselves. Or maybe now more of you are curious. In which case, Domino's totally owes me.

For what it's worth, though, I suggest just stocking up on frozen pizzas (or Boboli shells) next time they're on sale. It's significantly cheaper -- and there's no delivery charge.

7 Comments:

Good ingredients do make better pizza. And there is such a spectrum when it comes to pizza! My husband lived off of cheap pizza in college, but nowadays we either make it at home or, when we do go out for pizza, wait till we have the money in the budget to go to our favorite local pizza place (which we appreciate even more since going vegan since they have vegan cheese as an option).

And if you think Papa John's is pricey, you should see the prices at our fave place! A regular medium with four toppings is $18, plus a bit extra for vegan cheese -- which is why we wait for special occasions or extreme cravings. Thank goodness for toaster pizzas, though, because we have pizza rather often.

Personal fave toppings: banana peppers, spinach, carrots, and extra garlic :D Ricotta is also yummy on top, but they don't have vegan ricotta at our fave place, just at home.

As I understand it, the deal consists of both the $5.99 pizzas AND the money-back guarantee. I think it's the latter that lures frugal folks in. Because we figure that it's a safe bet. I think in this case, though, Domino's is banking mediocrity. People won't necessary love the pizza but they won't hate it enough to ask for the money back.

Meg,

Yeah, unfortunately, Papa John's isn't much cheaper than what you quoted. I'm glad you found a place that can cater to your specialized diet, though. I commend you going vegan. It's not something I think I could ever maintain long-term.

You weren't kidding about Papa John's prices! I just looked them up and they're a lot higher than I remember! Now I don't feel so bad about our fave place. Nice to know we're not paying a lot extra (probably not any extra) to patronize a local place. And their pizza is far superior to Papa John's.

And thanks for the Domino's review. We've never been a huge fan of the pizza taste-wise, but we were sort of wondering what we were missing when we saw an ad for the new pizza.

Thanks also for the "commendation". You never know ;) My husband and I went vegan 2 months ago as an experiment, you might say. We knew we should be getting more veggies into our diet for health reasons and figured this would force us to. I don't think either of thought we'd really do it this long. I thought we'd make it a week since hubby was Mr. Carnivore. But even just after a week we felt a lot better (even me who didn't eat a lot of meat). Both of us are less fatigued and I'm find that I recover from exercise a lot better now. That, combined with environmental and animal welfare reasons has led us to the point where we really hope to do this long term.

And it's not as bad as one might think. We're really enjoyed vegan cuisine and found that we preferred a lot of the alternatives to meat, eggs, and dairy. But we're lucky to have some vegan-friendly restaurants and grocery stores. It would have been much, much harder without having sources for vegan pizza and ice cream.

Thanks for the review. The only time I eat Domino's is when I'm at Lowe's Motor Speedway. I don't know why the pizza tastes better there, but it is delicious! Although, it does cost an arm and a leg there, so it's a good thing it's worth it.

I don't like Domino's but I've had worse (Chuck E. Cheese, Lamppost, Little Cesar's). I haven't heard their commercials but I wouldn't risk it.

Papa John's definitely is the best as far as carryout/delivery goes (I particularly love a sit-down pizza joint in downtown Orange, CA) but we usually get Pizza Hut for parties and stuff. It's $5 each when you buy three. We order online then pick it up.

As far as frozen pizzas, I like the ones I find one sale at walmart (they are in an open bin by the food at ours) but I don't remember the brand.

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

About Me

My husband and I both have chronic health problems that have put us in debt, both because of doctor bills and from a reduced ability to work. We've moved to Phoenix, which has helped some of my husband's conditions. But it will be awhile before we can truly be out of debt.

I write this blog because not everyone frivolously consumed his way into debt. Not everyone can be, as I like to say, the Martha Stewart of frugality.

I try to use my blog to explore frugality in an imperfect world, because I think that's a lot more realistic. Even people without chronic health problems can have life overrun their best frugal intentions.